Abstract

Groundnut, the main cash crop of The Gambia, has seen a considerable decline in local production, while the national demand for good and affordable vegetable oil continues to increase. This investigation dissects the proximate and physicochemical properties of five recently screened groundnut varieties and their oil extracts. The results of the analysis showed that variety ICGV97188 had the highest 1000 grain/kernel weight of 575.43 g, while ICGV00005 had the lowest at 281.41 g. The highest grain Moisture Content (MC) was 8.65% in variety ICGV00005, and the lowest was 3.4% in variety ICGV-15-13850. However, the mean MC of the extracted oils at Sapu (2.25 and 3.05%) was higher than at Site III (1.37 to 1.78%). The oil content ranged from 50.71% for variety ICGV-15-13850 to 40.85% for ICGV00005, with Sapu showing higher mean oil content (48.64 and 45.78%, respectively). The highest and lowest Free Fatty Acids were 4.82 and 0.6%, respectively, both in variety ICGV03181. Additionally, the same variety recorded the highest Acid Value mean of 7.25 at Sapu and 0.99 (mg NaoH/g) at Site III in 2021. Variety ICGV97097 had the highest Peroxide Value at 5.45 meqO₂ kg^-1. The maximum vitamin content recorded was 86.58 IU/g in variety ICGV-15-13850. There was no significant difference between the means of specific gravity of the oil samples. These findings aim to guide nutritional, health, and breeding purposes and pave the way for industrial-scale local groundnut oil production, thereby reducing oil importation.

Key words: Groundnut oil, physicochemical properties, proximate, nutritional value.